


My Favorite Color Is You (On Hold)

by KimchiSlap



Category: (여자)아이들 | (G)I-DLE
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Drama, F/F, Fluff, Romance, sooshu - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:28:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28612083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimchiSlap/pseuds/KimchiSlap
Summary: In which Soojin struggles to accept who she is and the love she has for her fellow bandmate, Yeh Shuhua.(Previously named as "Red is the warmest color")
Relationships: Seo Soojin/Yeh Shuhua
Comments: 13
Kudos: 102





	1. Prologue: White

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't proofread yet, therefore, I apologize for any grammatical/spelling mistakes.

Soojin has lived her entire life without a single question about her sexual orientation. She was brought up in an environment where heterosexuality was the norm. She’s watched her cousins grow up to marry the opposite sex; her friends throughout middle school were all straight. Nobody around her has ever talked about it nor brought it up. Hence, Soojin’s gradual adaptation to homosexuality was inevitable.

Through her time growing up, dating a man and marrying a man was the ideal and default way of her thinking. The people around her was so aloof to the world of homosexuality that sometimes, she didn’t even believe people like that existed. 

What about a girl? Will there be a time that she’ll be with a woman? 

Those questions never once appeared in her mind.

It was when she met her members of (G)I-DLE that her way of thinking shifted slightly. For the first time, Soojin was aware of the world of homosexuality. 

She had auditioned for Cube Entertainment with the hopes of becoming a singer and has followed through all the training with that mere thought in mind. She’s never thought farther ahead as to what she would do nor face after her debut. All the brain power and physical power she had was channeled into practice and more practice to prepare for the debut of (G)I-DLE.

Therefore, it had caught her by surprise when one day, a certain talk came up during practice.

Soojin was stretching in front of the mirror when she heard Soyeon clapping thrice which meant that she was summoning all members for a meeting.

“Everybody, there’s something I want to talk about.” Soyeon sat down in the middle of their dancing studio floor and the rest of the girls followed suit. Worry and anxiety started painting their faces.

“Don’t look so worried. Our debut schedule won’t be pushed back or anything like that. It’s nothing related to our debut. Relax, guys.” The leader’s lips pulled back in a light smile and everybody’s shoulder visibly lowered. 

“So, what is it?” Yuqi’s big eyes looked around the circle they had made and then back to Soyeon. 

Soojin was just as curious.

“It’s nothing that serious but I feel it’s important to address this especially since our debut is nearing.” Soyeon cleared her throat and pulled the yellow beanie that she was wearing lower onto her head. 

“I’ll cut to the chase and I want you guys to be honest. Is there anyone here who is uncomfortable with homosexuality?” Just as she finished the question, Soyeon paused for a bit and quickly said a few more words.

“By this question, I’m not trying to ask if you guys are like that, I just meant, does the thought disturb you? Like, the idea of homosexuality?”

The sudden direct question was greeted with confused silence. The Koreans were confused with the random question. The foreigners were confused because they didn’t know what homosexuality meant. 

“동성애 (Homosexuality)…?” Minnie trailed off as her face turned to Miyeon for assistance in translation.

“It’s a term for when someone loves the same sex.” The older girl explained in simpler Korean words and the foreigners eventually made a collective “Ah”. 

With that, the room once again fell into silence. Soojin had never thought about it. She never had to. But upon Soyeon’s question, her mind was reeling to seriously contemplate about this topic. It was so hard to give an accurate answer because she’s never been exposed to it. She tried to shape a scenario where she loves a girl and vice versa but she couldn’t. Does that mean she was disturbed? Her train of thought was cut short when the person beside her spoke up.

“I’m fine with it.” It was the youngest among them who had said it. Soojin turned to her side and took in how Shuhua was blinking while nodding her head. 

A part of Soojin was amazed at how Shuhua had managed to answer to it so nonchalantly as if the question was as simple as “Pepsi or coke?”

Playing with the collar of her shirt, Soojin’s apprehension doubled in size as she witnessed the others agreeing with Shuhua. Then, all eyes were on her.

Soojin didn’t have an answer. 

“I don’t know.” Her voice was so soft that if it weren’t for the eerie silence, no one would’ve caught it. Soyeon had asked for an honest answer and that was her honest answer. 

“That’s absolutely okay.” Soyeon’s hand reached out to touch Soojin’s. “Thank you so much for being honest.”

“You guys do know that once we debut, people will be shipping us with our own members right? It’s something very common and there will be a time when we would have to do things like fan service.” Soyeon went on to explain the intention behind her blunt question earlier. 

Soojin listened intently and nodded. She has heard of this and has seen a lot of the groups who had debuted before her being subjected to such situations. Of course, naturally, (G)I-DLE would be receiving the same treatment. 

“People will talk, people will pair us. And sometimes, it will get out of hand. The worst thing that I want to happen to this group is having us being uncomfortable with each other because of this. If anyone were to have a problem, we need to talk it out because you guys know what will happen if we get awkward with each other right?” 

Soyeon didn’t have to elaborate. All the girls knew it could make the group’s dynamic change for the worse. The girls were so close they were basically joined as one. Awkward tension could be comparable to hammering a nail into the middle of a porcelain plate.

“Understood. We’ve come so far together and have overcome so many hardships. Something like that won’t be enough to break us apart. Right guys?” Miyeon spoke up. Despite the confident wordings of her phrase, her voice trembled slightly in doubt.

“Of course. Come on guys!” Yuqi slapped both her palms on her lap. “People can say what they want, they can paint us with unwanted colors but what’s important is that we stick together and hold onto the truth we have set for ourselves.” Yuqi’s sudden loud voice shocked everyone and successfully cracked the tense atmosphere. Despite having her eyes fixated on the floor, Soojin could feel Soyeon’s eyes lingering on the side of her face. 

Soyeon wanted to hear Soojin’s mind.

“It’s true that I wasn’t sure of my answer for your previous question because I’ve never had any experience with that before.” Soojin directed her speech to their leader. “One thing I am absolutely confident of is that you don’t have to worry about this issue. I’ll never let anything interfere with what we’ve worked so hard to obtain.” 

Eyeing around the group, Soojin added shyly. “Actually thinking about it, the idea of pairing with you guys doesn’t sound bad at all. It’s normal. We’re already so close.” 

Her members stared at her with eyes slightly wide. That was the most they have heard Soojin talk in awhile. 

“Wow! That was so sweet Soojin unnie!” Shuhua threw herself at Soojin’s side and snuggled her cheek into the older girl’s shoulder. Soojin side glanced at the Taiwanese girl and nudged back in an attempt of throwing the leech off.

“Sit straight. Do you not have a backbone Shuhua?” She deadpanned and giggles from the others filled the dance room. And just like that, the talk was over. 

After (G)I-DLE’s debut, in retrospect, Soojin was especially grateful that Soyeon had brought that discussion to light. It had helped her to prepare herself well. And when Neverlands began to heavily ship her with Shuhua, Soojin took it in like it was the most normal thing in the entire world. 

She knew how much Shuhua loves her and despite the possessive actions Shuhua shows on camera, Soojin was aware that it was just because Shuhua was specially attached to her; just like how she is more attached to Shuhua than the rest. 

It was obvious to Soojin that Shuhua was just messing around and the fans go crazy over their interactions, so why not? It was almost like a routine. On camera, the relentless flirting happens. Off camera, the flirting stops but the possessiveness subtly stays. Soojin was fine with it, she’s never once taken it to heart and would always push or ignore Shuhua’s flirtatious attempts. It was harmless fun.

She knew that everyone in the group viewed each other as family; as a sister from another mother. She’s touchy with the girls, they kiss each other on the cheek and they hug each other from behind. What’s new? She had remembered doing the same to her best friend in middle school as well. She cooks for Shuhua. So what? She does it for her little sister back home all the time as well. 

She remembered when “Oh My God” first came out, the Sooshu shippers went absolutely berserk. Her phone wouldn’t stop beeping for days. The rumors got so bad that her mother had to call her just to hear her verbal confirmation that her relationship with Shuhua wasn’t real. Despite that, Soojin still didn’t feel an ounce of awkwardness with Shuhua. No matter what happens, the sisterly bond that runs in their group would never change.

For Soojin, even when every of her actions with her members could mean a homosexual comment, she still never doubted she was straight. 

What about a girl? Will there be a time that she’ll be with a woman? 

Those questions still never once appeared in her mind.

Even after Shuhua has ultimately gained the nickname of “Soojin’s Lover”, those questions never once appeared in her head.

Even when she gets asked every time the team goes on a variety show about Shuhua, she’s never doubted herself.

If any kind of color represented queerness, then Seo Soojin surely lives in a world where the walls are painted purely in blinding white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked it!


	2. Grey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, words in italic indicate internal thoughts. I hope you like this!

Their 4th mini-album “I burn” was going to be dropped on the 11th of next month. The last time Soojin checked, 11th of January was well far ahead into the future but with her days and nights blending together as one from all the practice the girls were going through, the day of the release suddenly was just right around the corner.

Was Soojin nervous? Very. Every time the thought crosses her mind, her heart pulsates in excitement but at the same time, she feels slightly sick to the stomach. 

Wanting the fans to love this comeback was a huge goal shared by all members of the group. A part of her feared the bad critics they could potentially receive from the general audience. However, a bigger part of her feared that Neverlands wouldn’t like this comeback as much as she had expected. (G)I-DLE’s ambition was to make each of their comebacks more impactful than their previous one. However, trying to jump higher than what “Oh My God” has given was a bit of an obstacle. 

When “Dumdi Dumdi” came out, the girls had received tons of disappointed comments from the viewers; people had pointed out that it wasn’t as good as “Oh My God”. What hurt the most was when people started saying that Soyeon wasn’t trying hard enough. 

Soojin remembered how Yuqi had angry hot tears streaming down her cheeks while reading those belittling comments directed to Soyeon. The sight of the Chinese’s livid fingers gripping onto their leather sofa whilst trying to stop the tears from coming was something she can never forget. Everyone knew no one respected their leader more than Song Yuqi did. Soyeon doesn’t generally follow the comments on social media that much and it was a blessing that Soyeon wasn’t there when the girls saw those comments. 

Soojin might not know a lot of things in this world. However, one thing that she was confident enough to say was that no one works harder than Jeon Soyeon. She only wishes that the world sees that as clear as the members do. 

Her father used to tell her right before she debuted that “Fame and hate come hand in hand.” Back then, she was too enthusiastic about “fame”, she had ignored the existence of “hate”. That was until the “hate” became so prominent it started to be hard to ignore. 

The incidents with “Dumdi Dumdi” was exactly the root of the unsettling feeling Soojin has in her stomach whenever the date of their comeback comes closer. 

It was 3 AM in the morning and the members had just gotten home after practice. Everyone had gotten the choreography down but their formation still needed a bit more work. Finally having her mind off work, usually, Soojin’s mind would go crazy worrying about their comeback but her body was absolutely drained. Her limbs felt like they were sculpted from melted jelly and her brain was dead.

“I’m going to shower first!” 

“No! I want to shower first, Shuhua stop!” 

Soojin’s mind lightly registered multiple rushed footsteps running to their shared bathroom as Shuhua and Miyeon raced for the shower in hopes of entering first. Soojin didn’t have that kind of energy to compete as she was running on 4 hours of sleep since yesterday. She cared more about sagging into the sofa in the living room.

Her eyes fluttered shut the moment her back hit the soft furniture. Light footsteps resonated throughout the room and the other end of the couch lightly dipped. She didn’t have to open her eyes to know who it was. She’ll always recognize the soft peachy scent. Anywhere. 

The air was left silent for a good minute except for the faint panting Mata was giving out. The little brown fluff was lying on the floor beside the couch. 

“Miyeon unnie was faster?” Soojin spoke up but left her eyes unopened.

“We played rock scissors paper and I lost. She showed her hand a split second later than I did though, I swear.” Catching an annoyed huff followed by a grunt, Soojin’s eyes parted to see Shuhua’s eyebrows furrowing at nothing in particular. Soojin didn’t reply and instead observed how the younger girl bent down to rub her fingers under Mata’s chin then proceeded to lean back into the couch, already engrossed with something on her phone. 

Shuhua has been on her phone a lot recently.

“Are you seeing someone?” Soojin softly inquired and jabbed her toe into the Taiwanese’s waist. Her question was generously laced with tease. Shuhua instantly looked at Soojin, blinked once, looked back at her phone then back at Soojin. 

“What, no! Why would you say that?”

Soojin wanted to laugh at the genuine confusion on Shuhua’s face. 

The dancer shrugged and began to close her eyes again, “You’ve been on your phone a lot these days.” 

“But, but that doesn’t mean I’m talking to someone. I’m not talking to anyone!” Shuhua bounced lightly in her seat with the hopes of getting her point across to Soojin. When she didn’t get a reply, her hands took the liberty of shaking Soojin’s long legs. 

“Yah, what are you doing—“

“I’m not seeing someone, really!” Shuhua whined.

“Alright, alright. I believe you.” Soojin couldn’t hold in the light chuckles that escaped her lips. She didn’t know why the Taiwanese was so bent on proving her point. It wasn’t like Soojin would disapprove it if she really was seeing someone. Well, their agency might; Soojin wouldn’t.

A brief pause happened before Shuhua opened her mouth again. This time, she was oh-so-confidently spewing nonsense. 

“Jin-ah, you don’t have to be jealous. I’m not seeing anyone else.” Shuhua’s lips puckered into subtle duck lips and her eyes started winking at Soojin. The smile grazing the dancer’s face got wiped out in a second, her face replaced with a straight expression. 

“Who said I was jealous?”

“It’s ok Jin-ah, just say it, it’s ok.” Shuhua patted her hand on Soojin’s stomach while smiling from ear to ear. 

She stared at Shuhua’s smiling face for a few seconds. 

“I’m going back to sleep.” Soojin deadpanned. After some more fussing from Shuhua, which Soojin successfully ignored, the room finally returned to its original silent ambience. 

It felt like Shuhua has been doing more and more of their Sooshu fan service even if the cameras weren’t on anymore. Soojin chalked it up to the younger girl doing it simply to rile her up. After all, the younger girl did love to annoy her.

“Ignore and don’t acknowledge” was Soojin’s go-to response when Shuhua acts up. It was easy to follow because most of the times, Soojin didn’t know how to respond anyways. She didn’t mind the way Shuhua acted, she never did and probably never would. It’s just the girl wasn’t much of a talker, the whole Neverland fandom probably knows this by now. 

On the brink of falling into the world of dreams, she felt Shuhua grabbing her legs and extending them so that they were now lying on top of Shuhua’s lap. Her lips twitched into a small smile. She liked how the younger girl was mindlessly rubbing her thumb against the smooth fabric covering her calf.

She only noticed that she had fallen asleep when her legs were gently moved.

“I’m sorry unnie. Go back to sleep.” Shuhua patted her thigh and disappeared down the hallway. It seemed that Miyeon had finally finished her shower. She blearily read the clock to see that it was 3:43AM. It would probably be 4 by the time Shuhua finishes. Wanting to sleep on her side rather than her back, Soojin rotated herself only to freeze when her foot kicked something. A loud thump soon followed as something fell to the carpeted floor. Mata yelped in surprise. 

“Sorry Mata.” She peered over to see what she had knocked down. 

It was Shuhua’s phone. 

In a more alarmed state of mind, the sleepy girl sat up and bent down to pick it up. She inspected the glassed back for cracks before moving on to the edges to find any scratches. Seeing none, she flipped the phone to the front to try to turn it on. Breaking Shuhua’s phone was the last thing she wants to do right now.

Now, Soojin never meant to unlock Shuhua’s phone. It wasn’t her fault that Shuhua had forced her to add her face into the face recognition system on the younger girl’s phone. Soojin also never meant to drag her thumb up the screen to go past the lock screen. It was merely her thumb’s habit once a phone was in her grasp to do so. 

Soojin could swear that she wanted to immediately close Shuhua’a phone but the moment her eyes landed on the screen, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Her head cocked to the side questioningly before her thumb scrolled down to reveal more things. 

Behind her, a door pulled shut causing her to whip her head back. Slight panicking eyes searched for the presence of Shuhua. However, turns out it was just Miyeon going into her room. After she had confirmed the sound of water running faintly from the bathroom at the end of the corridor, the dancer moved her attention back to the phone she was clutching.

“Is this why she’s always on her phone these days?” Soojin mumbled. Based on what Soojin was seeing, it seemed like Shuhua has been immersed in reading. To be precise, if Soojin wasn’t mistaken, they were called mangas.

The words in the dialogue bubbles were in Mandarin and of course, Soojin had no clue what it was about. But the illustrations alone were already a bit questionable. Soojin wasn’t one to jump to conclusions right away but after scrolling through various pages of the manga, she was almost sure that she was looking through a lesbian themed one. 

“She’s into these things?” She wasn’t disgusted, she wasn’t super surprised; it was a bit unexpected, yes. Right now, all she felt was utter complete confusion.

Does this make Shuhua gay? 

A memory from a time long ago suddenly resurfaced.

Was this the reason why Shuhua was the first one to answer to Soyeon’s question about homosexuality back when they haven’t debuted? She recalled feeling surprised at how Shuhua had taken in the question with ease. In retrospect, it made sense. 

But then, it also didn’t make sense. If this was true, Shuhua would’ve told her. They share everything. 

Soojin would accept Shuhua and she was sure the rest would do the same. Speaking of the rest, she wondered if any of the girls knew about this. Possibly Yuqi? Disappointment seeped through her at the thought of the maknae telling someone else about this before telling her. 

She turned off Shuhua’s phone and laid back down. She tried to sleep again but it was starting to become impossible. Her mind was way too noisy now. Sitting up again, she picked up Mata and put the ball of fluff onto her lap. She ran her slender fingers along his brown curls with hopes of calming her nerves but she couldn’t. 

“Am I overreacting? What do you think, Mata ah?” Soojin scratched the puppy’s back mindlessly as her eyes stared into space. 

She recalled watching “The Handmaiden” with Shuhua about half a year ago. Does that make her gay? No. She herself knows she’s not gay. That was it, she was reading way too much into the situation.

“But, just because someone reads stuff like that, it doesn’t mean they’re like that right?”

“They’re like what? Soojin unnie, were you talking to yourself?” 

“That was a fast shower.” Soojin ignored Shuhua’s question. How immersed was she into her thinking that she had not noticed Shuhua getting out of the bathroom? 

When she saw how Shuhua was about to speak up again, she cut the younger girl to the chase. “Why are you in your towel? Go change quickly, you’re going to catch a cold.” 

Without leaving an opening for the other to retaliate, Soojin placed Mata onto the floor and made a beeline for the bathroom.

-

The following week was so hectic for Soojin that whatever she had seen on Shuhua’s phone the other night was basically pushed to the corner of her head and left unattended. Straight people do read gay material it was a fact and Soojin decided to stick to that explanation. It made her sleep better at night.

She didn’t know why her agency thought it was a good idea to have their shootings for their music video on the same week Soojin was supposed to train for her solo “Got It” dance cover. The only brief moments that she could interact with the girls was on set but everyone was too busy to actually engage in a talk properly anyways. She saw Shuhua a few times, the little white fairy was jumping around trying to get a glimpse of each of the members as they shot their part.

“Unnie, you’re going to love my part. It’s legendary, I tell you.” Shuhua popped right beside her while Soojin was getting her makeup applied. Glancing sideways to see the younger girl grinning so brightly, Soojin couldn’t suppress her smile.

“Really?” 

“Yes. After you see it, you’re going to fall in love with me.” After saying those words, Shuhua put the back of her hand onto her forehead and gasped as if she had seen something amazing. In front of Soojin, her make up artist visibly smiled at the maknae’s antics.

“We’ll see about that.” Soojin mumbled quietly and this time, Shuhua had moved so that she was right in front of Soojin’s line of vision.

“You’re going to love it. Those legendary shots will make you feel like this.” The silly girl thumped her chest with her closed fist and scrunched her face up in feigned pain. Soojin slyly moved her eyes around to see if there were cameras around. Was Shuhua shooting a behind the scene video? Why was she doing fan service?

Seeing no cameras on, Soojin raised an eyebrow. “Are you all done with your shoots?”

Shuhua nodded and the moment she caught sight of Minnie at the distance, the girl rushed to the Thai girl immediately, forgetting about Soojin. 

“Minnie unnie! My shots are legendary!” Soojin could hear Shuhua bragging to Minnie. 

_She wasn’t just telling me, she was telling everyone huh?_

She didn’t hear the rest of their conversation as she had already put ear plugs in to listen to “Got It” by Marian Hill. The dancer shut her eyes and imagined the dance routine in her head. 

Turns out that was the only time Shuhua and her had a conversation that was longer than 5 minutes for the remaining days of the week. With her preparation for her solo cover dance video, the girl barely had time to eat. Whenever she got to the dorm, she was too tired to talk and just went straight ahead to sleep. 

Shuhua and Miyeon knew how exhausted she was and they respected her by giving her space and entering her room just to wake her up and give her food. Whenever Haku or Mata entered her room, Shuhua will always rush in afterwards to pick up the boys in case they disturbed Soojin from her sleep. 

After everything was done and the video of her dance was finally posted online on Saturday, Soojin felt like a boulder has been lifted off her shoulder. It felt like everything was back to normal and most importantly, she had forgotten about Shuhua’s reading obsession.

“Ayo Seo Soojin!” The moment Soojin entered the dance room, Yuqi’s deep voice greeted her. She watched as Minnie quickly stopped stretching and ran up to the Chinese. Suddenly, they both started dancing in unison. 

“I’ve got this thing, gonna blow your mind.” They both sang while copying Soojin’s dance from her “Got It” cover. 

“Seriously you guys.” The second Soojin figured what they were doing, she walked right past them. The two clowns followed her while goofily doing the dance. Soojin heaved a sigh and dropped her bag onto the floor.

She saw Soyeon walking up to them. 

“What are you guys doing?” Soyeon said in a reprimanding tone. Thinking that Soyeon was on her side, Soojin jumped in.

“Soyeon, they’re bullying—"

“If you’re gonna do it, at least do it right!” Soyeon cut her off and began singing “Got It” while dancing along with Yuqi and Minnie. The trio bursted out laughing, Yuqi was already rolling on the floor, her mouth opened wide and her eyes pushed into slits. 

“I hate you guys, for real.” Soojin whined and covered her face that was gradually turning hot. 

“Sorry, sorry, we couldn’t help it.” Minnie rushed to hug her from the side while trying in vain to stop her laughter from bubbling out of her throat. 

“It was so hot though phew!” The Thai girl continued while fanning herself. 

“She’s right. The part where you did the leg thing. Minnie, how’d she do it again? Like this?” Soojin’s ears turned bright red when Yuqi started to lay her back on the floor and pushed both legs up. 

“Stop it! Why are you guys doing this, really?” The dancer whined and ran to push Yuqi’s legs down. This was so embarrassing for her. Why do they have to do this? Even Shuhua who liked to tease her wasn’t even saying a word about the dance.

“Yuqi do it again, how’d she do it?” Shuhua’s voice suddenly appeared and Soojin stared at her, confused. 

“Yeh Shuhua, don’t tell me you haven’t watched the video.” Yuqi’s gigantic eyes opened even wider. Shuhua ignored Yuqi’s exaggerated gasp and kept pushing Yuqi to reenact Soojin’s dance. Standing beside Shuhua, Soojin’s lips were pulled tightly into a thin line as her eyes stared intently into the side of the Taiwanese's face.

Shuhua hasn’t seen her video? Even Miyeon sent her a congratulatory text last night, the same day her video got uploaded. 

Soojin didn’t know why her heart suddenly felt heavy at that revelation. No longer caring about Yuqi’s bad imitation of her dance and how Shuhua was openly enjoying it, Soojin walked to the mirror and began stretching her limbs. Their scheduled dance practice starts in 5 minutes and Miyeon was nowhere in sight. The oldest was probably going to be late again. 

Soojin couldn’t focus well during practice. Deep down she knows she was just trying her best to block out the disappointing feelings she had directed to Shuhua. Every time Shuhua came into her line of sight, she shifted her eyes to the ground. She wasn’t sure if she could focus any longer; so when Soyeon announced their break, she was especially grateful. A part of herself was absolutely pissed that she was getting so affected about this issue. 

“Anybody wanna go to 7-ELEVEN real quick for some drinks?” Soyeon questioned and everybody said yes except for Soojin. She wanted to take this time when Shuhua wasn’t in the room to practice. She knew that her stage facial expressions still needed some sharpening to do. 

“Oh, then I’ll stay with Soojin unnie. I have some parts of the dance that I want to ask her anyways.” 

Soojin held back a heavy sigh. God wasn’t on her side today. She watched the door beeped shut as the last member who went out closed it. After pulling her chest length hair into a low ponytail and fixing her bangs, Soojin turned to Shuhua with an expectant face.

“Which part do you have questions about?” 

If Shuhua needed help with their new choreography, she will help without question. Whatever she was feeling needed to be shoved aside. What mattered most was for everybody to put on a superb performance for their well awaited comeback stage. 

“I feel like I can’t really get the pre-chorus part right.” Shuhua started showing the dance to the main dancer to emphasize her words.

“Okay, I’ll put the music and you try to dance to it. I think the timing might be the problem here.” 

Soojin’s serious eyes took in Shuhua’s form and assessed her timing. 

“So, I think the problem is this part.” Soojin began to softly sing the pre-chorus and danced once for Shuhua. Without uttering a word, the younger girl followed her. 

“Do it again.” Shuhua obeyed.

“No, that’s not right. Do it again.” Usually, Soojin wouldn’t be this serious but at the moment, she was far from a happy mood. Whatever her mood was, she didn’t want to confront it, at least not now. 

“Stop.” The older girl said suddenly, causing the Taiwanese to freeze with her arm hanging up in the air. Soojin stepped in closer to the girl to bring her arm a bit lower. 

“Keep it at head height.” She tried to not breathe and acknowledge Shuhua’s signature peachy scent. Tried being the key word. 

“Jin-ah, why are you so serious today?” 

“I’m teaching you something important. I’ll need to be serious.”

“You’re kind of weird today.” Shuhua stopped dancing and her lips frowned slightly.

“I’m weird? What are you saying? Stop talking and dance.” Soojin hit the other girl’s shoulder lightly and faked a laugh. She couldn’t afford to let Shuhua know she was disappointed. 

“Jin-ah, are you upset that I didn’t watch your dance cover?” 

“What are you saying?” Since Shuhua wasn’t dancing, Soojin started dancing instead. Honestly, it was just her way of trying to convince Shuhua to drop the topic. After ignoring Shuhua’s repeated questions a few times, the music instantly got cut off.

Shuhua had turned it off. 

“Shuhua, did you stay behind to fuss about this or to practice?” Soojin put her hand on her hips and wiped the sweat from her face with her sleeves. 

“You’re upset.”

Soojin answered with silence. All she did was hold the Taiwanese’s gaze. 

“What are you doing?” The question left Soojin’s lips when the girl walked to the corner where all their bags were placed. Shuhua bent down to bring out her phone. 

“I’m going to watch it right now.” 

Soojin couldn’t believe her ears. “It’s not important, why are you doing this?” 

Her words fell on deaf ears. Unfazed, Shuhua sat down cross legged; her hands already typing into the screen. The moment the first note of “Got It” rang loud in the room, Soojin went on her knees and made a grab for the phone. Unfortunately, for her, Shuhua had an iron grip on the device. Pulling the phone just resulted in pulling Shuhua onto her. Losing her balance, Soojin tipped backwards just to shoot out her arms fast enough to stop her back from slamming into the floor. 

The words Soojin wanted to say got stuck somewhere in her throat when her eyes landed on Shuhua’s face. Why was Shuhua looking at her like that? With eyes that seemed like there were a thousand questions hidden behind them? 

Before Soojin could stop herself, her eyes gained a mind of their own and swiftly looked down to Shuhua’s parted lips and then down to her collar bone shiny with sweat. The peachy scent was killing her.

Shuhua’s heavy weight was making her thighs hurt. She pushed Shuhua gently off her and gave the girl her phone back.

“If you want to watch it, watch it when I’m not here. It’s embarrassing.” 

Shuhua nodded her head and answered affirmatively. The way the girl stuttered didn’t get past her observation though. 

Just in time, the door opened and in came their members with two white plastic bags. As she watched how Shuhua galloped to Miyeon for her drink, Soojin couldn’t stop chewing at her bottom lip apprehensively. 

There was no doubt about it; something was wrong with her. She wanted to blame it on the busy schedule she’s had over the past weeks. However, she couldn’t lie to herself that it might have something to do with her discovery that night while Shuhua was in the shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. A little fun fact about this chapter. The manga Shuhua was reading is 他们的故事 (Their Story) a Chinese manhua drawn by Tan Jiu.


End file.
